Design and Art Australia Online

professional photographer, was born in Sydney, son of a master builder. Known as Hubert, he worked for some years with his father until he visited Europe at the age of 30. There he became interested in photography and took a course of lessons in Paris. In 1862 he returned to Sydney and worked for the firm of Bradley & Allen . In November 1863 he opened Newman’s New Photographic Gallery in New South Head Road (Oxford Street), stating that he had just returned from Europe where he had 'perfected himself in every branch of the art’. He had a new gallery built on the site in 1865, and he also operated a photographic depot (for equipment) in Crown Street, Surry Hills in 1863-66. Until February 1867 he also seems to have continued working for Oswald Allen, his former employer. Then he announced his resignation and advised that he had, once again, completed renovations to his own gallery in New South Head Road.

Newman gained favourable publicity when his photograph of the Duke of Edinburgh – taken after James O’Farrell’s notorious assassination attempt at Clontarf in 1868 – was sent to Queen Victoria to reassure her of her son’s well being. His business steadily expanded and in September 1869 he moved to larger premises in New South Head Road. Here he advertised 'DIRECT PLAIN PHOTOGRAPHS of large size’ notable for their 'softness and force’. At the 1870 Sydney Agricultural Exhibition he showed 'some exquisite portraits in carbon, and some very delicate pictures on opal [glass], both plain and coloured’. That year, the firm won a bronze medal for photographic portraits at the Sydney Intercolonial Exhibition and his photographs of the officers of HMS Galatea were sent on to the 1871 London International Exhibition. By 1876 Newman could state that he was the 'recipient of the highest award for photographs at the Melbourne Exhibition of 1875, together with 17 different awards for excellence of photographic and crayon portraits from the Sydney Agricultural Society’s and Art Academy’s Shows up to the latest date, and the London Exhibitions of 1871 and 1873’. He won another prize at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition and a further certificate of merit at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition. His portrait of the late Archbishop Vaughan was shown at the 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London. He won another award for portraiture at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and many awards from local exhibitions, including a first prize at the 1888 Melbourne Centennial International Exhibition.

At least by 1871 and for several years afterwards J.H. Newman advertised that he had 'no connection with any other house’ – a disclaimer necessitated by the presence of the rival photographic firm of Robert W. Newman & Co., who took over Monte Scott 's George Street studio in 1870 and remained there for ten years. J.H. Newman called himself 'photographer by appointment to Sir Hercules Robinson’ (the then Governor of NSW), but his namesake topped this. He advertised his firm as 'By Royal Appointment to H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh’ – a warrant inherited from Scott that Newman must have found galling after his personal royal cou

Newman specialised in presentation portrait photographs taken with a 15 × 12 inch (38 × 31 cm) plate camera and enlarged up to life size. Often heavily overpainted, these were hung in public locations throughout the city. He took numerous photographs of Henry Parkes when he was premier of New South Wales, including Parkes with the other participants of the Australian Colonies Conference in 1873. The Mitchell Library holds a large collection of Newman’s work, mainly portrait photographs. He also advertised as 'photographer, crayon and miniature painter’ and produced oil, pastel, crayon and watercolour portraits (usually labelled 'From Photograph and Life’) as well as life-size photographs and reproductions. He is said to have won a certificate of merit for two crayon portraits of young ladies shown with the NSW Academy of Art but the date of this award is currently unknown.

It is not known whether Newman was personally responsible for any of this art work or to what extent it was based on photographs. His brother, E.O. Newman , worked with him as a portraitist and colourist in the 1870s and he employed other studio assistants and apprentices to take and colour photographs (and possibly paint portraits), including John Hood and Henry King .

Described as a 'short, stumpy little fellow with a bell-topper and a round face’, J.H. Newman was a justice of the peace, a deacon of the Congregational Church and a member of the first board of directors of the Hotel Australia. He lived in Llandaff, a grand house at Waverley with extensive gardens full of the exotic plants he cultivated as a hobby. These splendours crumbled in 1893 when Newman was declared bankrupt. The following year he had recovered enough to open the Newman Atelier in George Street, where he remained until 1900. The firm was then taken over by Mark Blow and Newman and his brother joined the Kodak organisation. He died in 1916.

Writers:

Staff Writer

Date written:

1992

Last updated:

2011